Swknaqinx Health Modules now part of curriculum in health sciences
What: A celebration of Aboriginal culture, health and safety
When: Thursday April 18, 2013, from 4 to 5 p.m.
Where: Foyer of Charles E. Fipke Centre for Innovative Research, 3247 University Way, UBC’s Okanagan campus, Kelowna
Admission: Free
UBC’s Okanagan campus will hold a ceremony of gratitude and recognition in honour of the contributions made by local First Nations and Aboriginal communities in creating the Swknaqinx Health Modules.
The event, free and open to the public, takes place Thursday, April 18, from 4 to 5 p.m. in the foyer of the Charles E. Fipke Centre for Innovative Research, 3247 University Way at UBC’s Okanagan campus.
The Aboriginal Health Curriculum Project was developed in recognition of the urgent need to address the current state of Aboriginal peoples’ health in Canada by preparing health care professionals to provide culturally appropriate care.
The result is a series of learning modules within a curriculum of cultural safety developed in partnership between local and other First Nation and urban Aboriginal communities in the Okanagan region and UBC’s Okanagan campus.
An advisory committee that included Native elders, Okanagan Knowledge Keepers, band members, faculty from the Schools of Nursing, Social Work and Health and Exercise Sciences guided the development of the learning tools. The curriculum has been delivered, in full or in part, to more than 700 students throughout the university’s three schools, which comprise the Faculty of Health and Social Development.
Gordon Binsted, Dean of the Faculty of Health and Social Development, credits the last four years of effort by the Aboriginal Health Advisory Committee and the curriculum writing group, which guided development of the Swknaqinx Health Modules.
“We at UBC, our students and our faculty members are grateful to the Aboriginal communities of the Okanagan for inspiring, informing and helping us develop the health modules,” says Binsted. “We want to take this opportunity to thank our Aboriginal partners for their wisdom, cultural guidance and knowledge in making Aboriginal education a central part of our curriculum.”
Invited guests for the event include chiefs and councillors from the Okanagan Nation Alliance and Secwepmec Nation and community members from the Okanagan Indian Band and health centre who hosted students during UBC’s Community Day.
Also expected are current and previous advisory committee members, students, professors, instructors and university administrators.
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